Bertolt Brecht - Education Scotland

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34 CRITICAL STUDIES Berliner Ensemble after Brecht’s death in 1956, and the subsequent influence he and the company had on German-speaking theatre. Patterson, M, The Revolution in German Theatre 1900–1933, London: Routledge, 1981 This is wide-ranging survey of the German theatre out of which Brecht sprang. The first part of the book deals with the social, political, philosophical, scientific and theatrical background of Expressionist theatre. The second part is much more important, particularly on the ‘Red Revues’ or political cabarets of Brecht’s youth. Also of great interest is the highly useful chapter that deals largely with Brecht’s production of Man equals Man, including sections on its set design, music, acting style and photographs from the 1931 production showing actors on stilts and the use of the famous halfcurtain. Patterson, M (ed. and trans.), Georg Büchner: Complete Plays, London: Methuen, 1987 Büchner’s Woyzeck is credited with having led the way for the Expressionist and Realist experiments in theatre in the early twentieth century. Brecht’s Baal owes something to the play. Reinelt, Janelle, After Brecht: British Epic Theatre, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1994 Worth consulting, the subject matter is indicated in the title. Rius, Marx for Beginners, London: Writers and Readers Ltd, 1976 Part of the problem for students of Brecht is the political aspect of his work. Marxism, and even Socialism, are becoming alien concepts today, so cheap, cheerful, easy-to-read introductions to this might be helpful. One of a series of cartoon beginners’ books, this one is actually fairly useful as a beginners’ guide (much more so than the one on Brecht in the same series, see page 36). Considering just how complex the topic is, it might be worth obtaining a class copy to pass around each student in turn. Schutzman, M, and Cohen-Cruz, J, Playing Boal: Theatre, therapy, activism, London: Routledge, 1994 Though a dense and difficult book, it contains an extremely good essay that explores Brecht’s concept of the Gestus. Philip Auslander’s ‘Boal, Blau, Brecht: The Body’ (pp124–133) attempts to show how Boal, influenced by Brecht, explores oppression through theatrical means. Auslander uses an example from Caucasian Chalk Circle to help him do this, and also some of Boal’s other theatrical influences, such as Grotowski and Artaud. A revealing essay. DRAMA
CRITICAL STUDIES Sebald, W G (ed.), A Radical Stage: Theatre in Germany in the 1970s and 1980s, Oxford: Berg, 1988 This book is as interesting for what it does not say about Brecht as it is for what it does say. It is indicative of the attempts made in Germany to get away from Brecht’s influence during a time when Brecht’s influence was so strong, particularly in Britain and throughout the rest of the Western world. Sidnel, M. J, Sources of Dramatic Theory: Volume 2: Voltaire to Hugo, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994 Volume Two of what will be a super four-volume series. This is very advanced and therefore to be read in libraries and only to be dipped into. Of particular interest in this volume is the section on the effects of performance on audience behaviour. Simon, R, Introducing Marxism, London: A Communist Party Publication, 1986 Like the Rius beginners’ book, this is designed to give some options to teachers and students over the choice of texts concerning the political persuasion prevalent in Brecht’s work. The Communist Party of Great Britain may have been many things but they did produce extraordinarily accessible introductions to topics, and this is one of them. Spiers, R, Brecht’s Early Plays, London: Macmillan, 1982 Lengthy looks at the early plays, Baal, Drums in the Night, In the Jungle of the Cities, The Life of Edward the Second of England, A Man’s a Man and operas and the Lehrstücke. Though written by one of those critics who has difficulty with the fact that Brecht is both a first-class artist and a Marxist, this is a useful companion to the early plays. Spiers, R, Bertolt Brecht, London: Macmillan, 1987 Spiers is better on the analyses of the plays than he is helpful on the ‘hows’ of any one production. Nevertheless, this handy volume covers five of the later plays in some detail: Saint Joan of the Stockyards; Mother Courage and Her Children; The Life of Galileo; The Good Person of Szechwan and The Caucasian Chalk Circle. There is a useful, general chapter on Brecht’s practical approach to theatre. DRAMA 35
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